by April Lust
She looked down at Craig. He didn’t move. She had hit him. She had hit him right in the head like she meant to. She looked only for a second. Long enough to see the hole in his forehead, bleeding. But the sight was too much. All the blood and gore. It was too much. She turned and bent over and threw up.
Jace had still been holding her tight, and now he made sure her hair was out of her way and he rubbed her back soothingly. When she stopped, he brushed the hair from her eyes and wiped the sweat from her forehead.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
She nodded and leaned into him. He wrapped his arms back around her.
“Sorry I don’t have any water or anything,” he said.
“It’s okay.” She spat several times on the ground.
“Nice shot,” the other Hawk said. He held out a stick of gum and she gratefully took it and put it in her mouth to get out the nasty taste.
“I had a little help,” she said.
“You did it, though,” Jace said, rubbing her back again. “You fought back and you won.”
“He is dead, right?” Isabella looked at his still body.
“Double check, Aaron,” Jace said.
Aaron walked over to Craig, picked up his wrist and held it for a moment, then let it fall. “Dead.”
Isabella turned to Jace and the emotions crashed over her until she sobbed into his chest. He held her and comforted her until she was able to stop crying.
“Jace, thank you,” she said. “Thank you for coming and saving us.”
He tilted her chin up so her face met his, and kissed her. “Anytime.”
Chapter Fifteen
“What about the body?” Isabella asked.
Jace looked past her to Craig’s dead body lying on the ground. He still couldn’t believe she’d done it. She’d killed her ex-husband point blank. And after shooting him in the leg to incapacitate him. Much as he’d wanted to kill Craig himself, watching Isabella do it was even better.
And apparently, Little Jazz loved it, too, because he had such a raging hard on, it felt like he’d burst any minute. He almost needed to move Isabella away from him so he could think straight. With her body pressed against his, there was only one thing he wanted. Right here in the woods, he didn’t care who was around. He would take her right now if he could. Might have to if she kept kissing him and looking at him like that.
The way she’d gazed up at him when she knew Craig was dead, and when he’d come running into the woods…like he was her savior and she’d come to worship him. Like she wanted him more than anything. Like she’d never leave him again. Like she loved him. His heart was a puddle and he wanted to pour himself into her hands.
And now that Craig was dead, she could be his free and clear. No looking behind their backs. No worrying about Craig or Lionel coming after them. Anyone who’d attacked them and anyone who wanted them dead or to hurt them were all dead. They’d survived. They’d come out on top. And they’d done it together.
“You are amazing,” he said to her, pulling her close again.
She kissed him and rubbed her nose against his. “But you didn’t answer me. What about the body?”
Jace glanced to Aaron. “Drag him back to the fire?”
“I think that’s our best option,” Aaron said. “Eliminate evidence. We’ll need to toss the guns, too.”
Jace nodded and turned back to Isabella. “I loved seeing you hold a gun and shoot. So hot.”
She giggled. “Thanks. You’ll have to teach me. I had no idea what I was doing.”
“I will.” He put his hand on the back of her head and kissed her forehead. “I’ll take care of you forever.”
“Can we go back to the farmhouse? I want to make sure Sara is okay.”
Jace nodded. “Of course. Alex has her, though. She’s safe.”
He put his arm around her and they turned back toward the farmhouse. Aaron tugged on Craig’s feet and pulled him along.
“Want some help?” Jace asked.
“Nope. Got it.”
As they walked, Jace started coughing again. He’d been doing okay. Being out in the fresh air and running like that had cleared his lungs, but now they were acting up and burning again.
“Why are you coughing so much?” Isabella asked. She paused to make him stop walking for a moment while he coughed. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“Whoa.” She grabbed his hand and held it out, looking closely at the blisters and burned places.
The bandage from his injured hand had come lose long ago, somewhere in the fighting. He hadn’t even noticed until now. All the adrenaline and being focused on the fights had taken his mind off it. Now that he looked at his hand, now that he had time to think about it and wasn’t distracted, it hurt badly. Without the bandage, he’d managed to open several of the blisters. They oozed and stung.
“What happened?” Isabella looked up at him with concern.
“Well, I had a little mishap earlier.” He put his arm back around her and they continued walking. “Lionel and his guys burned my house down.”
“What!”
He nodded. “One of my guys was trapped inside, so I went in to save him and burned my hand. That’s why I’ve been coughing so much. Smoke inhalation. They wanted me to stay at the hospital and get treated.”
“Then why didn’t you?”
“Well, my phone had died, but I charged it at the hospital. I was sitting in a trauma room, waiting to be seen, when I got your message. I couldn’t exactly just sit there and do nothing.”
Isabella hung her head. “I’m sorry.”
Jace stopped. He turned her to face him. “No. Don’t you dare apologize for this. None of this is your fault.”
She shook her head. “I should have listened to you. I should have waited for you to get here before going inside.”
“It wouldn’t have made that much of a difference. I got there in time. I got you out. We’re all safe, we’re all okay. Craig’s dead and Lionel’s dead. I think all of his guys are dead, too. We won, Isabella. It’s over.”
“I should have never yelled at you in the first place. I’m so sorry, Jace.”
He hugged her and let her cry. He hated that she was upset, but her tears brought him so much comfort. She did still want him. They would be together. And he wouldn’t let anything keep them apart.
“Let’s go get Sara,” he said, gently picking up her head to kiss her. “She must be afraid and worried.”
Isabella nodded and they trudged on.
The farmhouse finally came into sight. Flames poured out of the windows, smoke rushed from the roof. The whole house looked ready to collapse. He looked back to Aaron. He wasn’t too far behind. But what if the house went down before they got Craig back inside?
He saw his guys standing at the edge of the woods and Sara standing beside Alex.
Isabella dashed forward and ran to her, then grabbed her into her arms. Sara cried out to her and Isabella held her tight.
“Mommy, the house!”
“I know. It’s burning.”
“Alex said it was going to fall down.” Awe filled Sara’s voice. “All the bad men are inside.”
“They can’t hurt us now,” Isabella said.
Sara shook her head, then craned her neck around until she saw him. She broke into a smile. “Jace!”
He went over and put an arm around her, giving her a sideways hug while she was still in her mother’s arms. “Hi, Sara.”
“Cuddles made it, too!” Sara held up the dirty bunny triumphantly. “Daddy wanted to take her, but I wouldn’t let him.”
“Good job,” Isabella said.
Then Sara seemed to recall what happened in the woods with her father. “Where is Daddy?” she asked, the fear obvious on her face.
“He’ll never ever be able to hurt us again,” Isabella said.
“Why?”
“Well…” Isabella looked over at Jace, then took a deep breath. “He’s dead, honey.”
“Oh.” Sara looked straight ahead, then turned back to her mom. “And he won’t wake up?”
“Nope.”
“So, we don’t have to go back to live with him?”
Isabella smiled and shook her head. “No, we don’t. We’ll never see him again.”
At this, Jace remembered that Craig’s body was, in fact, rather close. Sara might easily see him, bloody and dead. He turned and saw Aaron dragging him along. Derrick went to help him. As long as Sara didn’t turn around, it would be okay. They weren’t too close to them.
Jace made eye contact with Isabella to make sure she saw what was happening. She kept her hand at the back of Sara’s head so she couldn’t turn and see by accident.
Derrick and Aaron pulled Craig’s body to the house, then they picked him up. Aaron held his feet, Derrick held his arms. They swung him back and forth, then let go and sent his body flying into the house.
Jace took out his gun and the one Isabella had shot Craig with. He wiped them both clean of fingerprints and walked closer to the house. When he was close enough, he tossed them both inside. This fire was nice and hot. It should burn away any evidence they’d left behind.
He could see Craig’s body, slumped over just inside the back door. It was already consumed by flames and charred black. He started to cough and had to walk away. But he wanted to stand there and watch the bastard burn. That last image, the one of Craig’s body blackened, the bullet hole from Isabella’s shot still subtly visible in his forehead, would replace the image of him holding the gun to Sara’s head.
Jace walked back to Isabella and Sara. “All clear.”
“Can we go home?” Isabella asked.
“I was just thinking the same thing.”
“Oh, you need to go to the hospital, though.”
Jace shook his head. “No, I’ll be fine.”
“Is your car here?” she asked.
“My car is a heap of ash in my garage.”
“Oh.” Her face fell. “Well, mine is here.”
“You feel okay to drive? I can if you don’t want to.”
“No, I’m okay,” she said. “And your hand. I don’t want you to make it worse.”
They all walked around the side of the house, back to where the cars and bikes were. He thought sirens should be wailing through the air, but there was nothing. Maybe they were far enough out in the country that no one had seen the fire yet. Certainly none of his guys would call the fire department. They needed the house to burn as long as possible. There wasn’t much to save anyway.
The fire would be contained enough. Not like it’d get into the woods and start a huge forest fire or anything. It wasn’t spreading along the grass, and the closest houses were so far away, he couldn’t see any in either direction. The fire department would probably come eventually. Someone would see the smoke and call.
But they needed to get out now. Long before anyone came along. With so many dead bodies and bullets and so much blood, this incident could mean a lot of trouble for the Hawks if they weren’t careful. No sirens were a good thing.
“Alright, Hawks,” Jace said. They stopped and turned to him. “Good work today, guys. Good work.”
Each of them took their turn giving him a fist bump and one-armed hug.
“We’ll find a new headquarters and meet soon,” he said. “Make sure you get to the hospital if you have injuries. Keep me updated. I’m going home to rest for a while.” But then he remembered he didn’t have a home. He turned to Isabella, but she had already thought ahead.
“He’ll be at my apartment,” she said, and smiled at him.
He smiled back.
“After we go to the hospital and get his hand cared for,” she added.
Jace dropped his head, but smiled. “I’ll see you guys over there. I want to check on Daniel anyway. Anyone heard any news since we got here?”
They checked their phones, but no one had anything new.
“Okay, well, let’s hope that’s good news, then.” Jace turned and walked to Isabella’s car.
She pulled her keys from her pocket and unlocked the door, then slid Sara into her booster seat. Jace stood and watched the care she took in buckling her in and making sure she was comfortable. Sara had Cuddles and hugged her close. Isabella kissed her forehead and shut the door.
Then she leaned against the car and covered her face with her hands as she cried.
He brought her close and spoke softly into her ear. “What is it?”
“She’s going to be so messed up.”
“Sara?”
She nodded against his shoulder. “All that’s happened. It’s too much for a four-year-old. It’s going to scar her for life.”
“No.” Jace stroked her head. “How much do you remember from when you were four? She’ll forget over time. And she has you. You give her so much love and affection that it’ll be okay. She’ll be fine. She knows she’s loved and safe. That’s what matters. She won’t keep being abused. It’s over now.”
Not like when he was a kid. How badly had his father’s abuse messed him up? Maybe worse than he thought. But that had gone on for years. And he hadn’t just watched his mother get hit and ordered around. His dad hit him and his brother for years before anyone did anything about it. Most of his life. And he’d turned out okay, hadn’t he? Maybe. Maybe not.
But Sara would be okay. He’d make sure of it. If Isabella let him, he’d be the best father to her that anyone could be. He’d make sure she always was safe and always felt safe. He’d slay monsters under the bed and in the closet if he had to. Whatever it took to make sure she felt safe, he would do.
And the same thing for Isabella. He’d teach her to shoot, get her a gun. Make sure she knew without a doubt that he’d always come for her and Sara. He’d give his life to protect them. He’d do anything for them. He didn’t want her to have any reason to be afraid, ever.
“Let’s get out of here,” Jace said.
He didn’t want to worry her, but the sooner they left the better. All of his guys who came on bikes had left. But Aaron sat in his car, making sure they were okay.
“You’re right.” Isabella straightened up and wiped her eyes. “Getting her back to something normal is the best thing. We’ll go to the hospital, make sure your hand is okay, then get her home.”
“We can skip the hospital. Let’s just get her home.”
Isabella walked around to the driver’s side and they both got in the car. She looked back at Sara. “All set?”
In his mirror, Jace saw Sara nod and squeeze Cuddles tight. Isabella started the car and drove off, Aaron following behind them.
###
Isabella didn’t care what Jace said. He was going to the hospital. With all they’d been through, the last thing anyone needed was for his hand to get infected or something. It wouldn’t take long. She couldn’t wait to get home, to stand in the hot shower and let the water burn away the stress and dirt of the day.
What a long day it’d been. No wonder she was so tired. It was hours after the time she normally went to sleep. She yawned and glanced back at Sara. Fast asleep. She looked over at Jace and smiled.
He took her right hand and kissed it, then held it in his. It felt so good to have him touching her. Even if it only was her hand. Any contact with him was like heaven. She fast forwarded through the next hours in her mind. They’d go to the hospital, get him fixed up. Then they’d go home and get cleaned up. Maybe they’d even shower together. And then, they’d climb into her bed together, naked and clean.
Her body started to tingle all over at the thought. When they’d slept together before it’d been the best sex of her life. And she wouldn’t mind having it again. And again. And again. Maybe even for the rest of her life. Hopefully it would take a long time for him to get another house or fix his, which meant he’d have to stay with them for a good long while.
She couldn’t believe Lionel had burned his place down. Who did something like that? Was it bad? Jace had said some
one had been trapped inside. That meant it had to be pretty bad, right? You didn’t get smoke inhalation and get trapped inside the building and burn your hand if it was just a little kitchen fire. He’d said his car was ash. So that meant it had to be really bad. Was there anything left? Had he lost everything?